First week in Broadbeach (Jan. 10-16)

(Sunset on the Gold Coast) 

Our first week on the Gold Coast the endless rain and cloudy skies continued and we spent little time on the beach, even though it was always within sight from our living room and balcony. We instead spent out time figuring out the bus system and exploring our new campus, which is quite beautiful, but also extremely small compared to Maryland. I’m pretty sure all of Bond University could fit on McKeldin Mall.  Despite the weather, it was a really fun week as we enjoyed the Orientation Week activities and got to know our surroundings. O Week was a nice taste of the welcoming and connected atmosphere at Bond.

It was nice to find that the Bond campus wasn’t the only inviting place, really all of Australia has demonstrated the same level of friendliness and openness, regardless of where we’ve been. And I think that especially came through as we heard about all of the flooding in Queensland. Yes, the Gold Coast is in Queensland, but we’re at the most southern part, less than have an hour from the state of New South Wales, so as we watched the news reports of the flooding online, it was hard to put it into perspective. But it was amazing to see how quickly all of Australia came to the need of the flood victims. Everywhere we went people were collecting money to help support the victims, on campus students were out in force selling raffles tickets to raise money. The Australian spirit and sense of community has been truly inspiring.